Enjoying Spring

Wow! I can't believe it's been a month since I posted last. Things have just been busy lately! We took a road trip and visited Nick's parents for Easter, celebrated his birthday last weekend, and have enjoyed the beautiful weather (minus some storms) the past few weeks. 

We've been enjoying homemade pizzas - one of my favorites! (Of course mine don't have cheese). I use a Bob's Red Mill gluten & dairy free crust (sometimes we'll just buy pre-made regular crust for Nick if we're not sharing mine) and it's delicious! 

 Had a fun night out with my mom a few weeks ago too - thrifting at Plato's closet followed by a movie and dinner at the Movie Tavern. We saw Cinderella and I loved it! Such a sweet movie, and had so much fun with my mom! 

The drive to visit Nick's parents is a fun one. The terrain gets pretty and is a bit desert-like in some areas with neat rock formations too. 

It's always an adventure with Ranger;) He usually wants to lay with his body on me, but with his chin resting on Nick's arm while drives. He also makes it a challenge for me to sleep in the car these days (it's a good thing he's cute;)). 

I always love the trees on this part of the drive for some reason! 

Tons of these wind turbines to. Some are close to the road and it always amazes me how HUGE they really are up close. 

 Charlie took us to a neat coffee shop in town that I loved. I'm excited to go back next time we're in town!

 We also managed to get a family Easter photo after church. 

Love my guy. He's so thoughtful and good to me all the time. I still get so tired during the week, that I usually need to catch up on the weekends, and I love how he knows when I should go back home while we're out and about so I can get rest.  He's wonderful in so many ways! 

I enjoyed a dinner with some of my Young Living team too - I always get encouraged when we get together! 

Date night at Bahama Bucks - it was our first experience there, and we really enjoyed it. We had a bit of a sugar overload, but it was so delicious, we'll be back. I had "cherry colada" with a cream that happened to be dairy free which made my day. Nick had the Ranger's special with was cinnamon and bubblegum and was really good too!

I got my first stitch fix shipment, and initially I wondered why they added a scarf and necklace when I needed clothes, lol - but none of the clothes worked, so I was thankful to have a nice scarf in the end!

My birthday boy's birthday lunch dessert. I love dates with him! 

I really like this one of us at his birthday lunch. A while into our lunch, it seemed like he was staring off telling me random sports facts (someone went out with an injury, etc.) and I thought it was odd. Then I realized there was a TV above my head where we were sitting at the corner booth - ha! I hadn't noticed when we sat down I guess. 

Reading birthday cards. 

I also found this envelope in my card stash from Amber's baby shower invites for Hank over two years ago. I loved finding it:) 

Yesterday, we enjoyed the day with my parents. We ate lunch together, then I met a friend for coffee a little later and enjoyed grilling out and getting their chiminea going. It was a great day!

Today's Pinspiration:

(Pinterest Source)

Dairy/Lactose Free "Shreds" + Shakopee SNL Skit

Fibro Update: Since I visited the doctor about 3 weeks ago, I've been slowly reducing the amount I've been taking of Savella, which I started taking for pain last August. I haven't been sure the past months if it is helping or not, and we were beginning to think it has been causing my recent high blood pressure and high pulse. So Thursday was my last day taking it, and this weekend, my pain and headaches intensified, and I've had some slight dizziness at times. Sometimes going on or off these types of medications can cause some pretty hefty symptoms (which I've definitely experienced in the past), so I'm not sure if it's the transition that is so awful, or if this is what it's like without that medication now. Time will tell. Praying to find a balance soon. *Update: I wrote this yesterday, and today I have been feeling a bit better, so hopefully it was just the transition...

Food: We also tried another pizza this weekend - we love making pizzas on the weekends if you can't tell:) and this time, used milk and casein free cheese (rather than no cheese like last time) for my half! 

Being dairy, lactose, casein, gluten, and soy free, I'm not quite sure what's actually in this cheese-like product...

My cheese is on the left. 

On this pizza, we added tomato sauce with our seasonings mixed in, turkey pepperoni, a diced green pepper (microwaved for 2 minutes, stirring at 1 minute), and diced tomatoes.

After baking, with my cheese on the right

The cheese was.... okay.... I didn't mind the taste (Nick didn't care for the smell or taste), but it was a difficult texture for pizza in my opinion. It was really creamy and didn't "brown" like typical cheese, which is my favorite part. 

Here's Nick's brown cheese... mmmm :)

I also felt like a little bit of this cheese goes a long way, so if I use it on a pizza again, I'll use much less than I'd use of regular cheese. I think it'd be good for lasagna and creamier cheese dishes, but not for my liking on pizza. 

Recipes: Just a reminder to check out my recipes page at the top right of the blog as new recipes are posted. I've been lacking on posting new recipes lately, but that's where I add and categorize all new recipes. I always think it's entertaining looking back at old posts too. I've been eyeing the crockpot chili with beer bread post lately. I haven't had bread since going dairy free and it sounds awesome right now. I think I can still make it with almond milk too - I'll have to try it!

Video: The last thing I wanted to share if you need some entertainment is a Saturday Night Live video from this weekend featuring Shakopee, Minnesota! We lived there when we were in transition after moving here a few months ago, and happened to tune in as this skit was starting - so funny to see that more rural suburb get national attention!

Cheeseburger Pizza

I cannot take credit for this creation, but it is a great easy meal made by one of my best friends! Rachel (posted about here) shared this recipe on her blog so I made it back in FEBRUARY and haven't posted it yet. Wowza. 

Now that I'm finally posting it, I want to eat some. Darnit. I'm adding pizza crust to my grocery list now (really, I just did). The good news is that it's an easy meal to whip up and you probably have most ingredients on hand already!

 You can also have fun with it - add whatever your heart desires!

 Rachel created the recipe by brainstorming something to make with ingredients she had on hand - so that's also a reminder to be creative with what's in your pantry/fridge!

 Nick and I loved it! If you like a cheeseburger, chances are that you'll like it too.

Cheeseburger Pizza

Ingredients:

1 pre-made pizza crust (although Rach used 1 can refrigerated crescent rolls! See, do whatever you want!)
1 lb ground beef
1.5 C shredded cheddar cheese

Ketchup

Mustard

Directions:

If you use crescent rolls, flatten them out on a jelly roll pan and bake according to the package. Brown beef in a skillet. Layer pizza crust with ketchup. Then, sprinkle ground beef on top of the ketchup and squirt some mustard on top of that.  Add shredded cheddar cheese and any other toppings you'd like (pickles - olives - tomatoes?).  If you have pre-made crust, bake according to package. If you use crescent rolls as the crust, place pizza under the broiler at 400 degrees until the cheese melted.

See how easy that was?! If you love the recipe (which I think you will), leave Rachel a comment (click here for her blog) telling her how wonderfully creative she is!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 medium green pepper, diced
1/2 lb chicken breast cooked and sliced (we used 1 lb! Had leftovers that way)
Your fav BBQ sauce (I used Annie's Natural's.. so good)
Handful or so of mozzarella cheese
1 pre-made pizza dough (or homemade if you dare...)
1/2 tsp oregano

Directions:
Smear pizza crust with BBQ sauce, some cheese, top with veggies, chicken, the rest of your cheese and top with oregano. You don't have to put some of the cheese on the bottom and some on top, but I like it that way :)

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes or until cheese is melted

This recipe is from Sara B's blog (check out her slightly different version here) YUM. Enjoy!